


California Dreaming

by justdk



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Fluff, Multi, OT3, POV Richard Gansey III, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 17:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20660780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdk/pseuds/justdk
Summary: Gansey, Blue, and Henry visit Joshua Tree, California and Gansey has a mystical experience





	California Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> More info about the sound bath I visited can be found here: https://www.integratron.com/sound-bath/

Gansey lay on the mat, his feet bare, and shifted around, trying to get comfortable. He was wired from the numerous lattes and coffees and teas he’d consumed in a day of exploration, starting with the pot of coffee Henry had made at their Airbnb, and ending with an iced matcha latte from a delightful café near the park.

“Do you ever think the reason you can’t sleep at night,” Blue had asked him with an arch tone, “is because your blood is 90% caffeine?”

“Do you have numbers to back up that hypothesis, Jane?” Gansey had replied. Henry had snorted and tapped his knuckles against Gansey’s and then yelped when Blue threatened them both with her clever little switchblade.

Road trips were fueled by caffeine, everyone knew this. Gansey didn’t want to miss a moment of their trip across country, which had more recently taken them from San Francisco to Joshua Tree. He twitched, trying to work out the kink in his shoulder from driving hundreds of miles in the Pig. The new and environmentally improved Pig was the same in its bones, meaning it wasn’t as comfortable as, say, one of the many Audis that they passed on the highway.

“Are you okay?” Henry whispered.

Gansey turned his head, meeting Henry’s gaze. It warmed his heart to have Henry so close to him, their mats only a few inches apart. Gansey moved his arm over to Henry’s mat, his fingers brushing against Henry’s until Henry took the hint and tangled their fingers together.

“I’m exceptional,” Gansey said quietly. He inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering closed. “Do you smell that?”

“It’s mint,” Blue said. Gansey looked over his shoulder and grinned at her. Blue was propped up on her elbow, smirking at the two of them. “Essential oils. There’s also lavender.”

“Ah.” Gansey reached out for Blue and she took his other hand. He immediately felt a frisson of connection passing between the three of them. It was always strong but something about this place was making it even more intense. “I guess you would know all about that.”

Blue quirked an eyebrow and stuck her tongue out at Gansey. “I guess I would.” Henry laughed softly.

All around them people of all ages settled onto the mats, their shoes left downstairs in a cubby, their phones turned off. Some people were dressed in comfortable yoga attire and some – like himself – were dressed in khaki shorts and polo shirts. Oh wait, no, he was the only one in a Polo shirt. Henry was dressed in some sort of soft, flowing black pants and a lovely gray shirt that kept sliding off one shoulder. His hair was artfully styled _and_ he was wearing eyeliner. Blue seemed to be wearing only one dress – a minor miracle – because she claimed the desert was too hot for the full Blue Sargent effect. Gansey stared rather too long at her legs until Blue squeezed his hand hard enough for her nails to bite into his skin.

Gansey smiled sheepishly and turned his gaze to the roof of the strange structure they were in. The wooden walls curved up to form a dome with a circular hole at the very top that allowed the light in. Small windows were placed about a foot above the floor so that, lying on his back, Gansey had a clear view of the blue sky. He closed his eyes and shifted again, trying to find a comfortable position where his back wouldn’t twinge and his shoulder wouldn’t feel so tight.

The whispered conversations petered out as the man leading the session quietly called for their attention. Gansey had been the one to find this place and make them a reservation but he still listened with rapt interest as the man told them about the founding of the institution, the lore of alien visitations, the energy from the sands and underground rivers, and – most importantly – the convergence of three ley lines at this very location. Henry and Blue simultaneously squeezed his hands and Gansey’s heart swelled with fondness for them both. Of course he was still tracking ley lines and hunting down mysteries; that obsession didn’t end with his second death.

He wasn’t hunting anything specific these days. He was letting the universe guide them, pulling them from one strange city to the next. Well, Blue and Henry definitely had some input on their destinations. Henry had been adamant that they visit San Francisco and LA, and Blue had wrangled them into a very pleasant weekend in Big Sur. The States were so full of wonders – big and small – that they had yet to stray across the borders even after almost an entire year of exploring. Gansey knew they’d never see it all: canyons and caverns, mountains and valleys, beaches and deserts, cities and tiny towns.

His focus was pulled back to the present by the low but pervasive sound of the crystal bowls being played. It was an incredible auditory sensation that Gansey _felt_ as well as heard. The sound seemed to travel over his body in waves, moving from the top of his head to the soles of his feet and back up, droning and rising and falling. The man played the bowls masterfully, each note blending with the next and creating a sound unlike anything Gansey had heard.

There was a spiel to go with the experience, about opening your mind and gaining enlightenment. There was the tongue in cheek insinuation that maybe the aliens would speak to you and show you your place in the world like the founder of the facility. Gansey had been shown the impossible time and again and now, with Blue Sargent holding his hand and amplifying the powers of the sound bath, it felt like anything was possible.

Gansey closed his eyes and focused on the spot between his brows – the location of the mystical third eye. He could feel his mind tunneling in and branching out, felt his consciousness float free of his body. The notes thrummed through his body, harmonic vibrations that chased out bad energy and elevated him. Only the warm touch of Henry kept him rooted while Blue fed him the energy in higher and higher doses.

It seemed like he was rushing through a field of stars, each one humming in tune with the sound. He could sense the heartbeats in the room – all 28 of them – and they resonated with his slow and steady pulse. He saw visions, each one brief and poignant. Visions of the dreaming tree, of Glendower and Cabeswater, of unknown forests and secret caves, of ravens and swords. Darkness welled from a crack in the earth and an eerie cry pierced through the haunting sound of the crystal bowls. Gansey gasped and opened his eyes but he still saw stars swirling above his head. He felt pinned to the earth but still his spirit, his soul, his essence, rose towards the heavens. He felt tumbled and lost, spinning in zero gravity, watching the earth and his body shrink. 

Someone was squeezing his left hand and then he felt the pressure of a body lying alongside his and warm breath on his neck. He inhaled sharply and smelled Henry’s spicy body wash. His fingers tightened around Henry’s and he tucked his head down until it was nestled against Henry’s shoulder. The whirling vertigo abated. Blue slipped her hand from his and curled against his back, her palms on his shoulders but not touching skin.

Cocooned between the two of them Gansey felt safe and grounded. He drifted into a state between sleeping and waking. He smelled mint and lavender, spice and sweat. Sound continued to pour into him, overwhelming like water overflowing a glass. It spilled into shallow visions, glimpses of the past and future too obscure to understand. Tree leaves played over his skin, shadows danced behind his eyelids. He breathed the cool scent of water running over rocks and around trailing tree roots. He swam in a river, chasing silver and red fish upstream to a clear spring welling from the roots of the mountains. A young man sat beside the spring, feeding it petals from a blue flower. Crouched behind him like a shadow was another young man with a raven on his shoulder. Gansey’s heart constricted and he almost said their names aloud.

The dull yet piercing chime of the bowls being struck – _1 2 3 _– pulled Gansey from his dreamlike trance. The chimes repeated two more times and the people on the mats began to stir, moving slowly.

The quiet was almost unnerving after a half hour of continual auditory bombardment. Gansey blinked, willing himself to focus on Henry’s face. Henry smiled and touched the side of Gansey’s face, fingers pushing his hair off his forehead.

“Hey, old man,” Henry said quietly, “you with us?” 

Gansey hummed, still not able to speak, still reeling from whatever _that_ was. 

Blue spooned against Gansey’s back and butted her forehead between his shoulder blades, her arms wrapped firmly around his waist. “Any word from the other side?” she asked, voice muffled against his shirt.

“I think,” Gansey said, but then his voice cracked. The dry desert air – and probably one too many lattes – was getting to him. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I think we’re needed home,” he said. “I saw a vision of Adam and Ronan in a forest.”

Henry’s mouth turned down in a frown and he gripped Gansey’s hand. Blue’s hold on Gansey tightened.

“Was it… was it like Cabeswater?” Blue asked carefully. “Like the demon?”

“No!” Gansey was quick to assure them. “No, but I got a feeling. It’s not urgent but there’s definitely a pull towards home.” 

“Home,” Henry repeated, his voice wistful.

“Home,” Blue agreed. She pushed herself to her knees and kissed Gansey’s cheek, then Henry’s. Her hand slipped into Gansey’s pocket and she snagged the Camaro keys with a triumphant smile. “Next leg of the road is mine, gentlemen.”

Gansey grinned widely and took her hand, gallantly kissing the back of it. “My lady.”

“Shotgun!” Henry whisper-shouted, giving Blue a high five. When Gansey pretended to pout Henry leaned in and gave him a lingering kiss of the mouth. “Don’t worry, Dick, I’ll keep you company later.”

Gansey flushed and his partners laughed and laughed, struggling to their feet and then reaching down to help Gansey up. Hand in hand they staggered out of the building and into the bright, hot California sun. Gansey put on his Gucci shades and looked out at the brown, dusty mountains and the strange and twisted Joshua trees.

“Home,” he murmured, feeling the ache in his heart ease. “We’re going home.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr @dkafterdark


End file.
